Frank Tate
Francis Ronald "Frank" Tate was a character in Emmerdale from 1989 to 1997. He first appeared on the Episode 1405 (21st November 1989) and last appeared in Episode 2209 (27th May 1997). He arrived in the village in 1989 when he bought Home Farm and moved in with his wife Kim and two grown up children Chris and Zoe Tate.He was a tough businessman with a sometimes villainous edge. Frank died of a heart attack in 1997 and his evil wife Kim watched him die. He was played by actor Norman Bowler. Biography Backstory Francis Ronald Tate was born on the 1st October 1937 in Yorkshire to Nigel Tate and Mrs Tate. In 1960, Frank dated a woman and in November 1960, she became pregnant with his baby. Frank soon left her, not knowing she was pregnant. He became a father to an illegitimate son called Liam Hammond in August 1961. Frank met Jean shortly afterwards and they married in 1962 and they had 2 children, Christopher Francis Tate in December 1963 and Zoe in April 1968. Frank ran Tate Haulage, a haulage firm and it made him very rich. Frank's illegitimate son Liam grew up in poverty which Frank and his subsequent children lived the life of luxury. Frank never knew of Liam's existence. (It was only after he died, that Liam got revenge on his late father through his son Chris by kidnapping him). In 1984, Jean Tate fell ill to cancer and Frank assisted her suicide. In 1986 he remarried to a much younger woman, 27 year old Kim Barker. By 1989, Frank was a multi millionaire. He decided to retire in 1989 aged 52 and bought Home Farm. 1989-1997 Frank Tate bought Home Farm in November 1989 and moved in with his children Chris and Zoe. He dreamt of the life of breeding horses and playing golf. He was a tough businessman but also had a bit of a villainous streak in him. He ran Tate Haulage. He offered Matt Skilbeck a job in West Raynham, Norfolk. Frank soon was established as the new lord of the manor. In 1990, Frank was revealed as having helped his wife Jean to die of cancer in 1984. Frank was dubbed a "Ladykiller" by his employee George Starkey. Frank wanted to shake things up in Beckindale, and this annoyed Jack Sugden. In 1990, Jock MacDonald was sacked by Frank for blackmailing him. Jock torched a Home Farm stable and was arrested. In September 1991, Frank had big plans for Beckindale, and planned to open up a Holiday Village to attract tourists to Beckindale. Construction begun in late 1991. It was halted in January 1992 when the diggers cut through wires, causing an explosion. The holiday village soon opened. Frank and Kim's marriage hit the rocks when in 1992 she dated Rt Hon Neil Kincaid. Frank was so mad that at the New Years Hunt on the 1st January 1993, Frank violently assaulted Neil. He had to be restrained by Chris and several others. Frank then had a long battle with the booze. He wanted to get back with Kim and even bought her a Christmas present at Christmas 1993. He drove up to Kim's Stables, Home Farm and sat in his car, stewing over whether to give Kim her late Christmas present. A plane crashed on the village, and a fireball hit Kim's stables. During the night, Frank helped villagers and the emergency services. But his son Chris Tate was left paralysed after a fireball hit the Woolpack wine bar. The crash reunited Frank and Kim. They remarried in December 1994 at Ripon Cathedral. In 1995, Frank went to war with the local Dingle family when he wanted them out of the 2 storey barn they lived in which was part of Holdgate Farm. Mr Holdgate had recently died. The Dingle's won their war against Frank tate and the cottage became Wishing Well Cottage. That year, he had a heart attack and his health started to fail. He then found that Kim was cheating on him again, this time with Dave Glover. Kim later found that she was pregnant. Either Frank or Dave was the father. Frank also developed a relationship with much younger Tina Dingle. In September 1996, Kim gave birth to her son James Tate. Frank paid her £1 million to name him as the father but he was revealed to be James' biological father anyway. In September 1996 Frank planned a quarry in the village and many villagers protested, especially Jack Sugden. Dave Glover died in December 1996 when rescuing baby James from a fire at Home Farm. Kim and Frank warred, she even pretended she had died and had Frank arrested but she was revealed to be alive and in May 1997 she watched Frank suffer another heart attack. She left him to die. Frank lay dying on the floor overnight. Zoe found him the next day and he was still just about alive but very weak. Frank tried to say to her that Kim had returned but then died suddenly and the truth over his death was never exposed. Frank was just 59 years old when he died. Frank was buried in Emmerdale Village Cemetery. Legacy *Frank's legacy lived on years after he died and he has been mentioned many times since. In Episode 2365 (22nd May 1998) the first anniversary of his death was marked when Kim and Zoe had a fight at his grave. In Episode 2473 (19th January 1999), Kim confessed to Chris that she watched Frank die. Later that year it was revealed that Frank had an illegitimate son called Liam Hammond. Frank was mentioned in 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2017. *The 2012 mention was by Cain Dingle, who first arrived in March 2000, 3 years after Frank died but heard all about Frank through his rivalry with Chris Tate in 2001-2003, and Cain took Charity to Frank and Chris' gravestone in 2009. In Episode 8007 (6th December 2017), over 20 years after he died, Frank was mentioned again, by Zak Dingle when Zak said how Frank tried to evict them from their home in 1995. *In Janaury 2018, a Tate was back at Home Farm when Frank's grandson Joe Tate bought the property off Lawrence White. Personality Quotes "Good grief. A farmer bang on time. Sorry if I made you jump, didn't hear you come in". First line "So what do you call this Dave? Overtime?" to his employee Dave when he sees him in bed with Kim Tate. "You made one little mistake." To Kim after finding out about her affair with Neil Kincaid. "Kim" Final Line Memorable info Born: 1st October 1937 Died: 27th May 1997 (Aged 59) heart attack FullName: Francis Ronald Tate Family Father Nigel Tate Spouse '''Jean Tate (c1962-1984), Kim Barker (1986-1997) '''Children Liam Hammond (1961), Chris Tate (1963), Zoe Tate (1968), James Tate (1996) Grandchildren Joseph Tate, Noah Macey, Jean Tate Jnr See also *Frank Tate - list of appearances *Tate Family Tree Gallery emmie young frank tate.png|Frank Tate in about 1960 with his son Liam's mother. Tate, Frank-first shot-1989-11-29.JPG|Frank has a walkman. Matt and Frank-Home Farm ground-1989-11-28.JPG|Frank, new owner of Home Farm, with Matt Skilbeck in 1989. emmie frankie tate 1989.png|Frank Tate in 1989. Emmie 3 sep 1991.png|Frank and Kim in 1991. Emmerdale-plane-150x150.jpg|Frank watches a plane crash over Beckindale. Emmie 3 oct 1995.png|Frank, while trying to evict the Dingles, gets slurry thrown over him in 1995. Emmie 14 nov 1996.png|Frank Tate wants Marlon Dingle and Butch Dingle to pull their weight over a protest. Emmie frankie heart attack.png|Frank has a heart attack and Kim refuses to help him. Emmie 27 may 1997.png|Frank Tate is dead. And Kim had left him to die the previous night. Zoe finds her father's body. emmie frank tate scrapbook by liam 1.png|Frank Tate scrapbook, compiled by his illegitimate son. emmie frank tate scrapbook by liam 2.png|More clippings from Liam's scrapbook of his late father. Emmie frazza tate grave.png|Frank Tate's grave. Category:Emmerdale characters. Category:Past characters. Category:Characters first seen in 1989. Category:Characters last seen in 1997. Category:Tate family. Category:Emmerdale businessmen. Category:Haulage firm owners. Category:Quarrymen. Category:Emmerdale bad boys. Category:Home Farm owners. Category:Emmerdale deaths. Category:1937 births. Category:1962 marriages. Category:1986 marriages. Category:1994 marriages. Category:1997 deaths. Category:Residents of Home Farm. Category:Deceased characters Category:Millionaires Category:Iconic Emmerdale characters.